US Intelligence Community: From Past to Present Essay

The US Intelligence Community can be traced back to the yearss of the 1776 Revolution. The nation’s foremost spyhead. General George Washington used undercover agents to accurately nail the motions of the British Army during the Revolutionary War. The British Army besides employed undercover agents to place possible dissenters in the largely loyalist South. The Revolution besides produced the country’s foremost cryptographer. Dr. Benjamin Church. Dr. Church posed as a member of the Boston ‘school’ while supplying indispensable intelligence about Rebel activities to General Gage. the British commanding officer of Boston.

After his assignment as head sawbones of the Continental Army. he continued to supply necessary information to the British. Dr. Church place was compromised after Samuel West deciphered a missive the former sent to the British. Dr. Church was sent into expatriate. What by and large struck me was the engagement of Benjamin Franklin in spy games. Franklin became the head of the country’s foremost formal intelligence-gathering bureau – the alleged ‘Committee of Secret Correspondence. ’ This bureau was formed in 1775 with the primary end of garnering information about sentiments towards the Revolutionary War in Europe.

However. the bureau extended its authorization. It authorized its ‘employees’ to utilize necessary methods in ‘influencing support for the Revolution in Europe. ’ Franklin. through a secret dialogue. asked France to supply Gallic military personnels. France offered both its ground forces and naval forces to back up the American revolutionists. After the Revolution. the American Intelligence Community adopted an isolationist stance. The bureau became one of the primary organisations tasked to the edifice of a state.

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Espionage was viewed as a tool for defence – ne'er a public-service corporation for increasing colonial influence. As a consequence. the Gallic. Spanish. and British had small problem learning American activities. During the War of 1812. US governments were able to nail British motions in the continent ( and the purpose of firing Washington ). However. no one knew how to utilize the procured information. American intelligence was awkward and supra-inefficient. The first major spring in the development of a sophisticated intelligence system came during the American Civil War.

Both Union and the Confederacy used undercover agents non merely for information-gathering but besides for sabotage. Allan Pinkerton formed an intelligence community tasked to supplying war information to General McClelland. In the South. General Robert E. Lee relied on the alleged ‘Canadian Cabinet’ – a group of Southern leaders who directed espionage against the Union. Although both sides were able to develop efficient intelligence systems. many military commanding officers belittled the importance of intelligence in military runs.

It was merely during American’s entry to the First World War that American military commanding officers began to see the existent advantages of an effectual intelligence community. This can be exhibited by the creative activity of the convoy system. American undercover agents in Europe sent critical information about the activities of U-boats in the Atlantic ( its motions. possible marks. and scheme ). Based on the information. the President ordered the creative activity of a convoy system which could protect merchant ships traversing the Atlantic Ocean. After the First World War. the United States had a really efficient and effectual intelligence community.

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